Black Male Statistics

POPULATION

According to official estimates from the US Census Bureau the Black male population in the United States was 21.5 Million in 2013. This is 48% of the total Black population compared to Black females who make up 52% of the Black population.

Compared to all males in America Black males are on average younger at 31 years old compared to the age of ‘all males’ (36 years old). However, when looking at a breakdown of age Black male children under 18 years old are at the same percentage as ‘all male children’ (51%). The percent of the population who are males declines much quicker for Black males as they get older due to a higher mortality rate than males on average (see table on left). This considering that men of all races and ethnicities have a shorter lifespan than women.More about population…

EDUCATION

In 2013 about 48% of Black men 25 and older attended college although half of them did not complete a degree compared to 58% of ‘all men’ who attended college who just under half have no degree (see chart on right).

The biggest disparity between Black men and ‘all men’ in America is with those who have a bachelors degree. Only 17% of Black men have a bachelors degree compared to 30% of ‘all men’. Second is the number of Black men who finished high school but did not pursue higher education, 35% compared to 28% of ‘all men’.

The percent of Black men who have an associates degree (7%) is equal to that of ‘all men’ (7%) in America (see above table). Only 18% of Black men over 25 did not complete high school. This is still higher than the percent for men of all races and ethnic groups together. More about Education…

EMPLOYMENT

African American males ages 16 to 64 had a lower participation rate in the labor force (67%) compared to ‘all males’ (80%) (see below table). Labor force participation refers to the percent of men who were either working or looking for work. Males not in the labor force include those who may be full time students, disabled, and others who are not looking or gave up looking for employment for other reasons.

The 37% of African American males who worked full time all year in 2013 had median earnings of $37,290 in 2013 compared to $48,099 for ‘all men’ (above table). Of Black males ages 16 to 64 years old, 40% had no earnings in 2013 which was higher than the 30% with no earnings of ‘all men’ in the same age group. Also a larger percentage of Black males 16 to 64 were unemployed than for ‘all men’ (11.2% compared to 7.3%) and were living below the poverty level (26%) than ‘all men’ (15%).

Compared to ‘all men’ in the United States Black men who worked were much less likely to work in occupations that may be considered white collar and were much more likely to hold blue collar or service jobs. Only 42% of working Black men held white collar jobs compared to 75% of ‘all men’ (see left chart). For the purpose of the above table white collar occupations include but are not limited to jobs in management, business, computers, office, legal, education, etc. More about Employment…

Blue collar occupations which were held by 36%of working Black men include employment in construction, maintenance and repair, installation, production, transportation, etc. Service occupations include healthcare support, protective service, food preparation and serving, etc.

OTHER CHARACTERISTICS

About 6% of working-age (18-64yrs old) Black men are currently in state or federal prison, or in a municipal jail (see chart right). This is three times higher than the 2% of ‘all men’ in the same age group. What’s even more concerning is that approximately 34%* of all working-age Black men who are not incarcerated are ex-offenders compared to 12% of ‘all men’ which means they have at one point in their lives been convicted of a felony. This data coincides with the increased absence of Black men in the labor force because ex-offenders are prevented from obtaining a large percentage of occupations either by law and are often legally discriminated against by private employers.

Fourteen percent of working-age Black men are veterans of U.S. military which is just slightly lower than all male veterans (15%). A larger percentage of working age Black men are considered disabled (16%) compared to ‘all men’ (11%).

RELATIONSHIPS

The percentages of Black men who are married and who have never been married are almost the exact opposite of those percentages for ‘all men’ in America (left chart). Although 51% of Black men have NEVER been married 50% of ‘all men’ are currently married. Only 32% of Black men are currently married while only 36% of ‘all men’ in America have NEVER been married. Black men are also slightly more likely to be separated from their spouses (4%) compared to all men at 3%. In addition, Black men are much less likely to outlive their wives and therefore are less likely to be widowed (3%) compared to 10% of ‘all men’.

CLICK CHART TO ENLARGE

Black men are more likely to be married than Black women (above right chart). As a matter of fact there are about 364,000 more Black men who are married than Black women even though Black women are 51% of the Black population. Although the vast majority of Black men (86%) are married to Black women, an even larger percent (94%) of Black women are married to Black men. More about Marriage…